Due to the ban the Boy Scouts of America have with regard to not allowing openly gay leaders and employees, Walt Disney World in Florida has discontinued contributions to local Boy Scout chapters. (You can be an openly gay Boy Scout…until you’re eighteen, and then it stops.)

Disney World, located in Orlando, did not make an announcement regarding its dumping of BSA. Reuters reports that the news came via an email to local members from Scouts’ Central Florida Council Board President Robert Utsey. Utsey wrote: ‘We recognize that many Scout Units have received financial support over the last several years from this grant opportunity and are sad to see it go.Once again, the right to freedom of speech is a wonderful thing that often comes with consequences. Especially when that freedom of speech is geared toward anything discriminatory or defamatory. And Disney can choose to donate its money wherever it wants. Just as the Boy Scouts can continue to discriminate against gays.

I’m not always a huge fan of book trailers because I’ve seen authors spend way too much money and they’ll never see a return on that investment. I rarely buy a book because of a book trailer. But I also think that sometimes some book trailers work and this is one of them.

Chronicle Books is releasing a 15th anniversary edition of Dancing With Cats.The book, which was originally published in 1999, is dedicated to photos of humans dancing with cats. The book sold more than 100,000 copies, in an era when Internet was less widely adopted and before Keyboard Cat hit the scene.To celebrate the anniversary of the book and the latest edition, the publisher has created a playful book trailer. We’ve embedded the video above for your entertainment.This not only proves that sometimes book trailers work, but also that some books are timeless.

Audible is a web site where publishers and self-published authors can launch the audio versions of their books. I don’t know much about it personally because I only have one on audible, An Officer and His Gentleman and it was launched through a publisher. It’s one area of self-publishing I haven’t ventured into yet because I’m not certain there’s a huge market for it. But I’m really not sure and I haven’t discounted doing more on Audible by any means. Most of all, I think it could be fun. In the past, several readers have told me they’ve listened to my book on audio and enjoyed it.

Amazon owns Audible. They purchased it not too long ago and launched the ACX Platform. Amazon has recently lowered royalties.

You can check out the link above, but that’s about it for now. There are, however, several other news briefs with that link that are interesting. I like Publisher’s Weekly, but it is paid content and I know most of my blog readers don’t have memberships.

As I said, I have no idea how this will affect authors. But I do predict that Amazon will continue to lower royalty rates as time passes. I have no comment on that one way or the other. It is what it is.

Author of over 100 published LGBT romance novels and stories, including AN OFFICER AND HIS GENTLEMAN and best selling VIRGIN BILLIONAIRE SERIES. Hates beets.
New Hope, PA Palm Springs, CA
ryan-field.blogspot.com